Unwanted Comfort
by Kagome-Inu5
Summary: Post TDA episode 14 -One Million Bucks BC. -- Courtney dwells on past things said. DxC


**AN: Okay, Duncan is pretty OOC here. It's so hard to write him being all... nice and still be... you know, Duncan. Post TDA after episode 14 - One Million Bucks BC.

* * *

**

It was around 2 in the morning, as Courtney tossed back and forth restlessly on her bed.

_"You just would of been kicked off in another episode, no one liked you that much." Lindsay had said..._

Courtney shot up with a horrified expression, and managed to smack her head on the bunk above her.

"Ow! Ugh." She rubbed her now pounding forehead, and glanced around the room. Satisfied that she had not managed to wake any of the remaining girls in the trailer up, she slid out from under the covers and began putting on her clothes.

_'Chris'll probably use some crazy tactic to wake us all up anyways, might was well be ready and waiting.' _Courtney thought was a smile, happy to be prepared. Though her stomach was twisted in knots.

"No one liked me, huh?" She mumbled quietly to herself, feeling a tad depressed, suddenly.

With a soft sigh, she managed to drag herself from her trailer and sat down on the steps outside it. Stealing a glance at the guy's cabin a foot beside her, she bit her lip lightly.

_'He'd be angry if I woke him up, but...' _

The saddened Brunette looked at her PDA in her lap. Discarding the thought completely, she began to focus on a different one. _'Was this really worth everyone hating me even more? I mean even Duncan...' _She stopped that train of thought immediately, too, and shook her head.

"Snap out of it, Courtney. You aren't here to make friends! You're here to win." With a feeling of confidence where the sadness once lurked, Courtney stood up and smiled.

"Do you always go outside and talk to yourself at 2 in the morning?"

Courtney jumped and spun around, Duncan had his head poked out the window from the trailer, a smirk on his face.

"I- I-" For once, she was speechless.

"Cat got your tongue?" Duncan continued, questioning her cheekily.

"You should be asleep." Courtney mentally face-palmed herself. She must be more tired than she thought.

The teenager across from her seemed just as surprised at the lack of venom and bite the girl seemed to always have, day or night.

"Are you okay?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Fine." She snapped, though really, she felt anything _but _fine. Though she didn't exactly want comfort from the one she had knocked into a pit full of fake tar just yesterday.

With a shrug, the dog collared boy retracted his head inside, then shut the window.

Courtney sunk back down to sit onto the cold metal steps, her knees pulled up to her chest.

It was quiet for a long moment before the Male's trailer door popped open and Duncan stepped out, pulling a shirt over his head as he went.

"What are you doing? I wanna be _alone._" She stressed, but with a roll of his blue eyes, he came over and sat next to her.

"Now, tell me what's up, Princess."

"Nothings _up._ And quit calling me that!" Courtney shouted, causing Duncan to put a finger to her lips in order to shut her up.

She stopped speaking, but her eyes narrowed dangerously. The delinquent could decode that silent message easily enough: _If you wanna keep that finger, you better move it. _Duncan quickly moved his finger from her lips and moved to take her hand instead.

"Duncan-"

"Just shut up for a minute!" His voice was lowered, yet his tone was firm and maybe even a bit frightening- though Courtney thinking of Duncan as frightening was quite comical- she closed her mouth once again and just stared at him.

"Look, Court, there are no cameras around and no ones awake-" He started off slowly, but before he could continue, she jumped in.

"If this is gonna lead into something perverted I swear to-" One hard look from Duncan made her quiet again.

"And I want you to tell me what's bugging you."

Ripping her hand from his, she stood up and glared at him. "Why do you keep assuming there's something wrong!? Why can't you just accept the fact that I'm _fine! _I'm _happy! _I'm _content!_" She ranted, throwing her arms into the air in exasperation.

"Are you finished?" He asked calmly, no hint of his usual slightly perverted and childish self.

Courtney just gawked at him in silence.

"Good. Now, I'm only gonna ask you one more time, what's the matter, Babe?" His tone was gentle and playful now. His old self seeming to return a second after she thought it was gone.

With a defeated sigh, she sat back down beside him. Of course, she considered possibly lying to him, feeding him some crap about not making class president back home, or some trivial problems like that. But she knew he'd see through her with little effort.

"I guess I've just been thinking about what Lindsay said back at Playa De Losers-"

"You listened to _Lindsay? _"

"Shut up!"

"Sorry, carry on." Courtney couldn't help but smile. He really was intent on hearing her problem and attempting to fix it.

"Anyways, she said that no one really liked me that much...and... I don't know." She sighed.

"Okay, let me get this straight, you're letting what Barbie said bug _you? _Miss Councilor in Training who doesn't care what anybody else thinks?" Duncan said with an easy grin.

Courtney didn't know how to respond to that.

"Besides, she was wrong." He spoke after a few moments of silence, and took her hand once again.

"_I _like you. Bridgette likes you."

"But-"

"Sweetheart, I'm trying my hardest not to kiss the hell out of you right now and talk it out instead. Make it a little easier on me."

With a roll of her eyes, she tugged her hand from his for the second time that insanely early morning and leaned forward to peck his cheek.

"Thanks."

"Anytime, Princess. Anytime." He replied with his smirk back in place.

"What? No making out? No smacking him silly!? This will not get us ratings, people!" Chris cried out, jumping out from the bushes with a camera man behind him.

The two teens glanced at each other and shared a smiled.

"Guys... guys' wait. Courtney, put down that tree stump. No! Watch the face!"

If you listen close, you can still hear Chris' screams and the snap of the tape with their touchy-feely moment being smashed into pieces.


End file.
